Artwork Information

During the spring of 1945 Toss Woollaston and his friend Colin McCahon lived in the Nelson area. World War II had just ended and they felt encouraged that there could now be a much more positive future for both their family and for their vocation as young artists. When Woollaston and McCahon met at this time they always discussed art, especially the paintings of Paul Cezanne, which they studied from a recently published book. Cezanne taught them an important lesson: to look at your own landscape so closely that you can visually represent its identity. Mount Arthur's towering presence over Golden Bay fascinated Woollaston and he painted it many times over the next forty years.